On Wednesday the 28th of September and Friday the 4th of October, Oak Tree hosted Spring High Tea events at our Gunnedah and Kingston retirement villages.
Guests were invited to come dressed in their Spring florals and enjoy a morning of sweet treats and exquisite sandwiches, all while supporting incredible, local charity organisations. The villages were decked out in stunning floral decorations, with flower arches and beautiful china tea sets.
The Gunnedah Spring High Tea was a sold-out success with 70 people in attendance, live classical guitar music by Dominic from the Gunnedah Conservatorium to set the mood, and delicious catering from local favourite, The Verdict Café.
One of the highlights of the day was the highly anticipated raffle, featuring a variety of amazing prizes to be won, including a beautiful cupcake bouquet, succulents, candles, flowers, and a hairdressing voucher. At Oak Tree, we love to support and promote as many small local businesses as we can at our village events.
All proceeds from the event went to Can Assist, a nonprofit organisation committed to ensuring that all people, regardless of where they live in New South Wales, have equitable access to cancer treatment and care. By providing financial assistance, practical support and raising awareness of the inequities, their volunteer network ensures that country people are given the same opportunities and treatment choices as those who live in city centres.
“We felt so privileged to be able to host an event that gives back to such a critical support network in our community. The positivity was absolutely ‘blossoming’ in the community centre on the day, with smiles all around and so many generous people. It has been some time since we hosted a large event like this, and we are grateful that it was so well supported by residents and friends of Oak Tree Gunnedah,” says Kath Blinman, Oak Tree Gunnedah Village Manager.
Can Assist’s mission resonates deeply with us at Oak Tree, as we have had a regional focus with our village locations from the beginning. We are passionate about recognising Australian seniors in regional areas and allowing them to retire in the areas they know and love.
We were lucky enough to have Linda Lee and Kate Knight from Can Assist speak on the day about their mission and the incredible impact Can Assist has had thus far.
“We are truly so grateful to Oak Tree for hosting such a beautiful high tea fundraiser, and to Kathryn for all the work she put into making it such a wonderful day,” says Linda Lee.
“The funds we raised will go towards helping local people, and I think that’s something that resonates with people and draws in such a special crowd.”
The event raised a grand total of $2518.15, with all proceeds going towards Can Assist!
The following week on the 4th of October, we hosted our Kingston Spring High Tea in support of Kingborough Helping Hands, an incredible local charity dedicated to assisting less fortunate people within the community by providing food and other forms of relief on an ongoing basis. At Oak Tree, we feel that recognising and supporting local causes that do incredible work for the community is so important in allowing them to continue to make a difference.
The Kingston Spring High Tea was also a huge success with approximately 80 people in attendance – residents, family and friends, and members of the wider community who wanted to enjoy an exciting day out while supporting a very worthy cause!
Local singer Jeremy Matcha put on an amazing performance throughout the day, and Olive Tree Catering supplied a delicious high tea luncheon. The main event of the day was the raffle which saw many of our guests winning an array of wonderful local prizes!
“Being my first major event as Village Manager, I was delighted to receive feedback from everyone who attended that they had a wonderful time. It was an amazing day, and we were thrilled to be able to donate over $2500 to the Kingborough Helping Hands,” says Paul Vincent, Oak Tree Kingston Village Manager.
“We were also very excited to have the event sell out completely, and to have Mayor Paula Wreidt, Councillor Kasper Deane, and Kingborough Helping Hands founder Edna Pennicot in attendance.”
We were lucky enough to have Edna say a few words at the event about the Kingborough Helping Hands mission and impact.
“It’s so special to feel such a strong sense of community spirit and see local organisations helping one another”, says Edna.
“We are so appreciative of the generous donation from this event.”
The event raised a grand total of $2664, with all proceeds going to the Kingborough Helping Hands Charity.
Hosting events at our Oak Tree villages is a wonderful way to unite the local community over a common goal, raise money for incredibly worthy causes, and showcase our vibrant, tight knit resident communities to local retirees who are considering downsizing.
Oak Tree look forward to hosting many more fundraising events like the Spring High Tea in the future!
